A VOLUNTEER AT THE "JOHN THE BAPTIST CAVE" gives the Asheville Citizen-Times a personal account of the excavation. Excerpts:

Harry Tolley joined Dr. James Tabor at the site near the Kibbutz Tsuba in May 2001. . . .

"When I was on the dig, it had this top-secret air to it," Tolley said. "We weren't allowed to take pictures or talk to people because Shimon Gibson wanted to spring this on the archeological world. He also really wanted to have some space to work on the research for his book. I've been telling people about this for years and they never really believed me, but now I'm telling them again."